21-gun salute for French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron (PHOTO: Courtesy)

NAIROBI, KENYA: French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday in his final tour of three African countries

The French leader arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport shortly after 2 pm and drove straight to the State House where he received a 21-gun salute before inspecting a guard of honour.

Macron and his host President Uhuru Kenyatta then retreated to a closed-door meeting for bilateral talks, which is to touch on different issues among them beefing up trade ties.

Macron arrived in Kenya from Ethiopia. He had previously visited Djibouti in the three-day visit to Africa

In Kenya, he will attend the United Nations environmental summit but he is also expected to tour Kenya’s Railway Station.

Macron in Ethiopia met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, whose country is shaken by Sunday’s deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed 157 people.

As France joined much of the world in grounding or banning the Boeing model involved in the crash, Macron said that his transport minister was “studying the matter with all the technical departments, and well-reasoned decisions will be taken in due time.”

France and Ethiopia also signed a joint defense agreement to help strengthen French involvement in the region, including in the fight against extremism and maritime piracy in the busy Red Sea corridor to the Indian Ocean.

While confirming Macron’s visit in December last year, Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma revealed that the visiting leader would deliberate on Kenya driving the global climate agenda.

“President Macron will come to attend the United Nations Environmental Assembly of the UNEP. We also expect that he and Uhuru Kenyatta will co-host the summit on One Planet Summit during the same time and the primary outcome of this will be Kenya driving the global environmental agenda,” said Juma.

Additional reporting by AP